Monday, November 16, 2015

Trisetella gemmata

Nearly all my Trisetellas are in bloom at present and this is one of them, Trisetella gemmata from Colombia. It is fairly typical of the genus, both
in the color and size of the flowers and in plant size. The plant is a
cluster of narrow channeled leaves about 4 cm tall, and the rather
strange flowers are about 3 cm in size. It produces its flowers during
the winter and each flower spike produces a succession of 4-6 flowers.
The plant is from high altitudes and does best in cool
to cold temperatures with high humidity. I grow it mounted on a piece
of bark and water it nearly every day. Its name, gemmata, refers to the sparkling texture of the flowers which is very hard to capture in a photograph, and Trisetella, the genus name, refers to the three thread-like tails of the flower.